solid, heavy, knife will never let you down
Written: May 20 '04 (Updated May 20 '04)
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Pros: forged, great weight, balance, and blade sharpness - the perfect tool
Cons: too heavy for some, not the sharpest on the market, pretty expensive
The Bottom Line: you can never go wrong with a Henckel Chef's knife
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| icevic's Full Review: Henckels Four Star High Carbon Stainless Steel CHE... |
This is a great knife, a real workhorse of the kitchen. It feels and looks typically German. The knife is so heavy I often use it where a cleaver would normally be called for. The blade is curved properly for high speed chopping. The blade is wide, which I like for balancing things on to move them off the cutting board. I always use a Henckel sharpening rod, and it keeps it very sharp. I can easily cut bread or tomatoes with it, the toughest test for a straight-edged knife. I have been using it for five years and it is still as sharp as when I bought it.
This is not the sharpest knife on the market, perhaps because it is so substantial and thick the edge is not as finely honed as it could be. The handle is great, curved ergonomically, but I believe you pay quite a bit more for that over the standard Henckel series (same blade, same steel, different handle). I never get tired using it and I use it every day. My wife doesn't like to use this knife because it is so heavy and long, so I bought her a much cheaper Japanese Wasabi knife and I must admit I find myself using it sometimes for it's razor sharp edge and light weight. It's a different feel and a different knife, but sometimes it makes a good break from the hefty Henckel, especially for lighter chopping.
I love the thickness of the tang on the Henckel handle - I can chop anything with my big hands and never bang my knuckles. That is the first thing I look for in a Chef's knife, enough space so that I can grab the handle and have the blade flat on the cutting board without banging my knuckles.
I put the knife if the dishwasher all the time and sometimes it gets little brown spots, but they go away after a while or if you scrub at them. Most people recommend never putting knives in the dishwasher but I don't understand why - what could a dishwasher do to a hunk of steel? And who wants to stand there washing things when you have a perfectly good dishwasher? They say the soap dulls it, the heat ruins the steel, it will get knicked by other things in the dishwasher, the water dulls it ... really, it is a knife made from top quality steel and it is fine in the dishwasher.
This knife is perfectly balanced for chopping and overall, it is my favourite tool in the kitchen. It has great heft and all the weight around the handle makes the downward chopping stroke very natural.
Cost isn't a huge issue for me with knives, because I expect them to last forever, but I do find Henckels expensive. You can probably get knives that are as good for less, but it does everything I want it to do and is worth the money to me.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 89
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Epinions.com ID:
icevic
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Reviews written: 12
Trusted by: 1 member
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